Hye-jeong is a 40-year old sociology professor. Despite recently authoring a bestseller about how to keep a satisfying and long-lasting marriage, she struggles to hide the fact that her own marriage has recently crumbled. Aggravating her plight is Woo-sang, a student who has recently enrolled in her seminar. A male escort who suffered through a rough upbringing, Hye-jeong cannot help but to fall for Woo-sang’s brash and frank sexuality, despite being more than two decades his senior. As they draw near each other, they explore and transgress the sexual mores and gender norms of modern Korean society.

Though <Secrets, Objects> is her debut feature, Lee Young-mi has directed numerous short films – such as <Oil & Water> (1997) and <Cabby> (2001) – that have shown at international festivals in Brazil, Berlin, San Francisco and elsewhere. A graduate of Britain’s National Film and Television School, she also worked on the successful UK feature <Notting Hill> (1999).